Thursday, April 10, 2014

WAR

click on photo to enlarge

Arming our children
with spiritual weapons

It is essential that we expose our youth to the teachings of
the Church, and offer them serious facts about traditional
Christianity, while letting them see that faith is not simply a
religious expression of the ethnic heritage of their parents, or of
keeping a generational family tradition alive. If our youth don't know the
faith, and are not helped in making faith their own, and internalizing it
into their hearts, how do we expect to break the downward cycle of
church attendance that is happening across the nation? If we insist on
being aloof in our priestly bearing, how will the youth feel free to
come to us with their doubts and struggles with belief in God, and curb the mass exodus of young people
from the churches?

How will these wonderful young people withstand the
secularism, humanism, and atheism that is pounded into their young
minds, if we do not arm them with a faith that can withstand the
challenges of professors and fellow classmates who set out to destroy
"the provincial and ethnic beliefs taught by backward parents,
uneducated grandparents, and self-serving clergy"?

We are at war! If we don't arm our children with spiritual
weapons, they will be lost to the enemy, and we will have only ourselves
to blame. If all our faith is to them, is a backward religion they
don't understand, and if they do not sense the love of Christ in the
hearts of their parents, priests, and bishops, they will depart to the
greener pastures of a society that has had it with religious pomposity,
hypocrisy and scandal. If the youth don't feel loved and respected by
their bishops and priests, they will turn against all we stand for, and
we will only see them at our ethnic church bazaars, and the occasional
funeral.

If these youth are not taught the true faith of Christ, and
helped to make it their own by our example of holiness of life, and by
our love for them, they will not have been given the armor and
ammunition to withstand the atheism of our age, and they will have been
lost.

With love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon

Notice: In previous postings on
this blog, I wrote that the monastery is not supported by the Western
American Diocese, of which we are a part. This statement was incorrect,
and in fact our diocese holds a special collection each year for its two
main monasteries, of which All-Merciful Saviour Monastery is one, and
parishes all throughout the diocese, which are often themselves
extremely poor, offer what they are able on our behalf. Additionally,
the diocese has in the past offered us additional financial support in
cases of extreme need, and has even this year made adjustments to its
collections to help bring funds to us earlier in the year. As a
monastery of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia, we are grateful to the diocese, and to its parishes
and many faithful who contribute to our life in this way--whose small
but heartfelt contributions join with those of our many other
benefactors to make our life here possible.

Thursday April 10, 2014 / March 28, 2014Sixth Week of the Great Lent. Tone eight. Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil
Venerable Hilarion the New, abbot of Pelecete (754).
Venerable Stephen the Wonderworker, abbot of Tryglia (815).
New Hieromartyr Nicholas priest(1931).
New Hieromartyr Basil priest(1938).
Martyr John (1939).
New Hieromartyr Priest Peter Ochryzko of Chartoviec (Chelm and Podlasie, Poland) (1944).
Martyr Eustratius of the Kiev Caves (1096).
Venerable Hilarion, monk, of Gdov (Pskov) (1476).
Martyrs Jonah and Barachisius and those with them in Persia: Zanithas, Lazarus, Maruthas (Marotas), Narses, Elias, Marinus (Mares), Abibus, Sembeeth (Sivsithina), and Sabbas (330).
Sts. George, bishop, Parodus and Peter, presbyters, and Prince Enravota-Boyan (833), martyrs of Bulgaria (Bulgaria).
St. Hesychius the Theologian of Jerusalem, disciple of St. Gregory the Theologian (434).
Apostle Herodion of the Seventy (Greek).
Sts. Priscus, Malchus, and Alexander in Caesaria of Palestine (259).
St. Dionysius the Merciful, bishop of Larissa (1510).
Venerable Jonah of Kliminetsk (Olonets) (1534).
Venerable John, Bishop of Manglisi (1751) (Georgia).
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.

The Scripture Readings for the Day

Isaiah 65:8-16

8 Thus says the Lord:

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,For a blessing is in it,’So will I do for My servants’ sake,That I may not destroy them all.9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,And from Judah an heir of My mountains;My elect shall inherit it,And My servants shall dwell there.10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,For My people who have sought Me.

11 “But you are those who forsake the Lord,Who forget My holy mountain,Who prepare a table for Gad,And who furnish a drink offering for Meni.12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;Because, when I called, you did not answer;When I spoke, you did not hear,But did evil before My eyes,And chose that in which I do not delight.”

13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, My servants shall eat,But you shall be hungry;Behold, My servants shall drink,But you shall be thirsty;Behold, My servants shall rejoice,But you shall be ashamed;14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,And wail for grief of spirit.15 You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen;For the Lord God will slay you,And call His servants by another name;16 So that he who blesses himself in the earthShall bless himself in the God of truth;And he who swears in the earthShall swear by the God of truth;Because the former troubles are forgotten,And because they are hidden from My eyes.

Genesis 46:1-7

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”And he said, “Here I am.”3 So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”5 Then
Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father
Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh
had sent to carry him. 6 So
they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in
the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants
with him. 7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Proverbs 23:15-24:5

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day;18 For surely there is a hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.

19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.20 Do not mix with winebibbers,Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22 Listen to your father who begot you,And do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.27 For a harlot is a deep pit,And a seductress is a narrow well.28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,And increases the unfaithful among men.

29 Who has woe?Who has sorrow?Who has contentions?Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?Who has redness of eyes?30 Those who linger long at the wine,Those who go in search of mixed wine.31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,When it sparkles in the cup,When it swirls around smoothly;32 At the last it bites like a serpent,And stings like a viper.33 Your eyes will see strange things,
And your heart will utter perverse things.34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt;They have beaten me, but I did not feel it.When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

24 Do not be envious of evil men,Nor desire to be with them;2 For their heart devises violence,And their lips talk of troublemaking.

3 Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;4 By knowledge the rooms are filledWith all precious and pleasant riches.

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery is a
non-profit, 501 C3 organization, under IRS regulations. All
donations
are therefore tax deductible. We support ourselves through the sales of
Monastery Blend Coffee, our fine line of teas, and make Monastery Jams,
all sold on line, and in our gift
shop. We grow as many of our fruits and vegetables as we can, tend
bee hives, and raise free range chickens for our eggs. With all we do to
support ourselves, receiving also offerings from our diocese and parishes, we still depend on the generosity of our friends and
benefactors. You can donate to the monastery through PayPal, or by
sending donations directly to the monastery's mailing address.